'Hoosiers' reigns supreme in AP rankings of Top 25 sports films

“Hoosiers” shot all the way to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 of best sports movies, a one-of-a-kind poll from the news organization known for its rankings of college teams.

Released in 1986 and starring Gene Hackman, “Hoosiers” led the tally in results released Friday, receiving 46 votes from a 70-person global panel of sportswriters and editors who work for the AP.

“If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game,” coach Norman Dale, Hackman’s character, says in the top-ranked movie. “In my book, we’re gonna be winners.”

And in this case, they were.

Loosely based on an Indiana high school basketball team in the 1950s, “Hoosiers” narrowly edged Academy Award Best Picture honoree “Rocky” — released in 1976, it was the first installment of Sylvester Stallone’s series about an unknown boxer from Philadelphia who gets a shot at the big time — and “Bull Durham” — starring Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in 1988, it offered a fictionalized look at characters who populate minor league baseball.

Those two movies tied for second place with 45 votes each.

There was a significant gap between the top three and the rest of the AP Top 25.

At No. 4 with 33 votes was “Caddyshack,” the sole golf tale to make the rankings. That was followed closely by “Slap Shot” with 32 votes and “Field of Dreams” with 31.

“Raging Bull,” “Major League,” “The Natural” and “A League of Their Own” rounded out the poll’s top 10.

Other tidbits from this special AP Top 25:

DOUBLE TAKES

Two screenwriters, Angelo Pizzo and Ron Shelton, each earned two mentions on the list. Pizzo penned top-ranked “Hoosiers” and “Rudy,” which tied for No. 18; Shelton wrote and directed both “Bull Durham” and No. 17 “White Men Can’t Jump.”

REAL AS CAN BE

Two documentaries made the rankings: “Hoop Dreams” at No. 14 and “When We Were Kings,” tied for No. 21.

STATISTICS

In all, 117 films got at least one mention in the complete balloting; 69 received at least two votes apiece. Nine sports served as the subjects of the AP Top 25, a group that actually wound up including 26 total movies, because three tied for 24th place.